Preparation of high performance ceramic tiles using waste tile granules and ceramic polishing powder

This paper presents an innovative approach to reusing waste tile granules(TG) and ceramic polishing powder(PP) to produce high performance ceramic tiles.We studied formulations each with a TG mass fraction of 25.0% and a different PP mass fraction between 1.0% and 7.0%.The formulations included a small amount of borax additive of a mass fracton between 0.2% and 1.2%.The effects of these industrial by-products on compressive strength,water absorption and microstructure of the new ceramic tiles were investigated.The results indicate that the compressive strength decreases and water absorption increases when TG with a mass fraction of 25.0% are added.Improvement of the compressive strength may be achieved when TG(up to 25.0%) and PP(up to 2.0%) are both used at the same time.In particular,the compressive strength improvement can be maximized and water absorption reduced when a borax additive of up to 0.5% is used as a flux.Scanning electron microscopy reveals that a certain amount of fine PP granules and a high content of fluxing oxides from borax avail the formation of glassy phase that fills up the pores in the new ceramic tiles,resulting in a dense product with high compressive strength and low water absorption.